Consumer concern about the use of private personal data is putting
emerging mobile business models and brand engagement strategies at risk.
More than 50 percent of people trust mobile operators and brands less
today than they did three years ago, with 70 percent of consumers now
not trusting them to safeguard their private data. These insights are
from a new survey commissioned by Syniverse that examines consumer
attitudes about mobile privacy across eight countries.

“Using big-data elements – like demographics, location and interaction
history – to personalize services and target promotions is critical to
emerging mobile business models and sophisticated brand engagement
strategies,” said Mary
Clark, Chief Marketing Officer, Syniverse. “Success assumes
consumers will willingly share personal data in return for more
personalized services and more relevant offers along their mobile
journey. This assumption is wrong: Consumers are far from ‘willing.’ The
research contains many rich and fascinating data points from which much
can be concluded. What is clear above all else is that brands and mobile
operators face a ‘privacy predicament’ that must be overcome for mobile
to continue to flourish.”

Consumer concerns quantified

The primary research, conducted in January 2016, sought to understand
attitudes toward mobile privacy among more than 8,000 people across
eight countries. Some of the findings are alarming for both brands and
mobile operators, as today 75 percent of consumers surveyed say they
don’t trust brands to take care of their data, and 71 percent of
respondents say they don’t trust mobile operators to take care of their
data.

The research highlighted several key objections to sharing personal data
with brands and mobile operators that undermine consumer trust:

Transparency: 21 percent of consumers surveyed worry about how
their data may be used in the future

Control: 19 percent of consumers surveyed are concerned that
their data will be sold to third parties.

Privacy is critical for consumers with an overwhelming majority (89 to
94 percent) admitting to having at least some concern when sharing data
with brands in the retail, financial services, travel and hospitality
vertical markets as well as with mobile operators. And 40 percent of
consumers will reluctantly share basic personal data (age, gender and
name) in order to improve the experience from their brands and mobile
operators. However, fewer than 20 percent of consumers are willing to
share more rich “contextual” data, such as location, browsing history
and shopping habits.

“Personalization depends on people’s willingness to share personal and
contextual information to enhance their mobile journey, and that’s
largely missing at the moment,” Clark said. “Consumers clearly do not
feel that their mobile experiences have been significantly improved to
date by the sharing of personal data. However, the stakes are too high
to give up on personalization, with too many business models and
engagement strategies at risk.”

Brands and mobile operators have the responsibility, opportunity and
power to address this situation – because consumers hold them
responsible for the delivery of security, transparency and control
alongside personalization:

Only 15 percent of consumers surveyed believe responsibility for
safeguarding their private data lies with a regulatory body.

For brands and mobile operators, this consumer-allocated responsibility
is the de facto “mobile privacy pact” between themselves and consumers.

“The impact of brands having access to contextual data has eroded
consumer trust and experience to date,” Clark added. “Brands and
operators must now achieve a balance of driving both value and
trust along the mobile journey.”

Crucially, there is a growing expectation among consumers that brands
should be able to improve personalized services and offers as a result
of collecting personal data (38% agreed with this).

“All players in the mobile value chain must rethink their approaches to
harvesting, managing and using personal data. They must take a more
transparent approach to personalization that empowers control and
guarantees data security and privacy. It is on this foundation that a
new ‘mobile privacy pact’ will be established to ensure business models
and engagement strategies of the future are fully realized,” Clark
concluded.

The full Syniverse report, ‘The Mobile Privacy Predicament’ can be
downloaded by clicking
here.

Solving technical challenges within the mobile ecosystem for more than
25 years, Syniverse is helping the world’s largest brands and operators
take a more transparent approach in delivering personalized services
directly to their customers’ mobile devices. Syniverse has a number of
solutions that help brands and operators provide personalized services
through secure infrastructure and solutions that put consumers in
control of their mobile experiences. Syniverse recently announced that
its enabling a number of operators to put users in control
of data usage; helping Western
Union to increase global participation its loyalty program; Bigo
to validate subscribers; and Amazon
China to enhance the e-commerce experience.

Research methodology

Research was carried out by On
Device Research in January 2016 in eight countries – U.K., USA,
Brazil, India, China, South Korea, Germany and France. In each country,
1,000 consumers responded to the survey who were nationally
representative of gender balance and who were among the age groups
18-24, 25-34, and 35-44.

About Syniverse

Syniverse is the leading global transaction processor that connects more
than 1,500 mobile service providers, enterprises, ISPs and OTTs in
nearly 200 countries and territories, enabling seamless mobile
communications across disparate and rapidly evolving networks, devices
and applications. We deliver innovative cloud-based solutions that
facilitate superior end-user experiences through always-on services and
real-time engagement. For more than 25 years, Syniverse has been
simplifying complexity to deliver the promise of mobility – a simple,
interoperable experience, anytime, anywhere. For more information, visit www.syniverse.com,
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